Box Score

Senior Carrie Dean dives safely back into first base during Marshall's victory over Kent State Sunday.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va.— The Marshall University softball team won its third straight contest over Kent State University Sunday at Dot Hicks Field, 6-5. The Thundering Herd improved its record to 18-26 overall and 11-11 in the Mid-American Conference with the victory.

The two teams continued the trend set yesterday with another exciting, down to the wire contest. Kent State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, scoring a run on a pair of base hits. The Herd allowed Kent to push another run across the plate in the fifth, but forced the Flashes to leave three runners stranded, holding the score at 2-0.

Undeterred by the Kent lead, Marshall came out on fire in their half of the inning. Carrie Dean (Paradise, Calif.) singled to start things off and moved to second when Karri Britt (Huntington, W.Va.) walked. Kelli Hall (Huntington, W.Va.) then doubled to right field, scoring Dean and moving Sarah Wilson (Parkersburg, W.Va.), who came in to run for Britt, to third. Senior Nikki Wilcox (Lake Forest, Calif.) continued the trend smacking a double to score Wilson. Nichole Corrigan (Corona, Calif.) came to the plate next and lined a base hit to center field to score Hall from third. Corrigan promptly stole second base to put runners on second and third. After a pair of outs by the Herd a throwing error by the Flashes allowed the two runners to cross the plate for the Herd. Everyone in the Marshall order batted in the inning as the Herd scored five runs on four hits to take a 5-3 lead.

Kent would, however, make the game interesting as they came back to tie the score with three runs on three hits in the top of the sixth.

The bottom of the seventh mirrored yesterday’s contest as MU came to bat with a tie score. With one out in the inning, Sierra Davenport (Tucson, Ariz.) singled and advanced to second base on an errant throw. The next batter, De’Shaun Drake (Spring Valley, Calif.) crushed a double to the fence in left-center field to bring Davenport home and make the final 6-5 in favor of the Herd.

Drake went 2-for-3 at the plate with the game-winning RBI and picked up the win on the mound for the Herd. She gave up four hits and struck out two batters in two innings of work on the mound. Seven different players recorded hits in the contest for the Marshall.

Marshall will host the Univesity of Louisville on Wednesday, May 1st in a double-header at 2:00 p.m.